his VOR is a single, province-wide list of Qualified Contractors, from which invitations will be given to firms which are within a defined proximity to the project site. The radial proximity approach is utilized so that as part of the second stage invitation process, ten Qualified Contractors will be selected at random from the set of Qualified Contractors that are located within 30 kilometers of a project site. This will comprise the pool of eligible Qualified Contractors for invitation to a second stage process. The number of eligible Qualified Contractors will be issued to a random selection of eligible Qualified Contractors. Should there be fewer than the required number of eligible, Qualified Contractors within the 30km radius, this radius will be expanded by 15km increments until the required number of invitation slots is filled.

This approach balances the ability of local firms to continue to obtain work with optimizing the efficient delivery of IO's program and maintaining fairness and transparency.

Firms that have offices across the Province (i.e. "satellite offices") will qualify as vendors from both their main office location as well as their satellite office location.

How long are these VOR lists in effect?

The VOR list is set for a three-year term. Respondents who are not on the VOR List and who wish to become Qualified Contractors will have an opportunity to submit a RFP at the following times:

January 2, 2018 to February 28, 2018, with a closing deadline of 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 28, 2018;

January 2, 2019 to February 28, 2019, with a closing deadline of 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 28, 2019; and

January 2, 2020 to February 28, 2020, with a closing deadline of 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 28, 2020.